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Dagenham (UK Parliament constituency) facts for kids

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Dagenham was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament that elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It was replaced at the 2010 general election largely by Dagenham and Rainham.

Boundaries

Dagenham1945
Dagenham in Essex, boundaries used 1945-50

1945–1974: The Borough of Dagenham.

1974–1983: The London Borough of Barking wards of Chadwell Heath, Eastbrook, Fanshawe, Heath, River, Valence, and Village.

1983–2010: The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham wards of Alibon, Chadwell Heath, Eastbrook, Fanshawe, Heath, Marks Gate, River, Triptons, Valence, and Village.

2010 Boundary change

Following their review of parliamentary representation in North London, the Boundary Commission for England created a new constituency of Dagenham and Rainham.

History

Before 1945 this Dagenham constituency and surrounding area was part of the Romford constituency. The MP for the predecessor seat since 1935, Labour's John Parker, stood again on each occasion in this smaller successor area, representing it until 1983. Parker was the last serving MP to have been elected before the Second World War, and with 48 years in Parliament, remained the longest-serving Labour MP in history until Dennis Skinner served Bolsover for 49 years. Dagenham was held by Labour since its inception and election predictions always rated it as a safe seat. The constituency shared boundaries with the Dagenham electoral division for election of councillors to the Greater London Council at elections in 1973, 1977 and 1981.

The far-right British National Party (BNP) was active in this area periodically and its support led to some retained deposits by polling more than 5% of the vote on several occasions. Their candidate received nearly 10% of the vote in the 2005 general election and in the 2006 local elections returned 12 councillors to Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council.

Constituency profile

The constituency hosted shrinking skilled manual industry such as the Ford Motor Company works, which downscaled production in 2001, leading to replacement distribution and warehousing businesses as well as local regeneration under the Thames Gateway project from 2005 however higher than national unemployment immediately, including following the seat's abolition. (See the main successor seat, Dagenham and Rainham for statistics.) The largest-polling opposition candidate was Conservative since 1979, with the Liberal Party a greater or equal opponent in elections before that, vying for second place with that party.

Members of Parliament

Election Member Party
1945 John Parker Labour
1983 Bryan Gould Labour
1994 by-election Judith Church Labour
2001 Jon Cruddas Labour
2010 constituency abolished: see Dagenham and Rainham

Election results

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Parker 36,686 83.69
Conservative Albert Cooper 7,147 16.31
Majority 29,539 67.38
Turnout 43,833 69.08
Registered electors 63,450
Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Parker 43,300 72.50 -11.19
Conservative D. Cook 11,565 19.37 +3.06
Liberal Ivy Elizabeth Hallett Thurston 3,973 6.65 New
Communist George Bridges 883 1.48 New
Majority 31,735 53.13 -14.25
Turnout 59,721 81.28 +12.20
Registered electors 73,477
Labour hold Swing -7.13
General election 1951: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Parker 44,908 76.09 +3.59
Conservative Norman St John-Stevas 14,112 23.91 +4.54
Majority 30,796 52.18 +0.95
Turnout 59,020 77.72 -3.56
Registered electors 73,939
Labour hold Swing -0.48
General election 1955: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Parker 38,811 73.88 -2.21
Conservative Roger Ibbotson Gray 13,718 26.12 +2.21
Majority 25,093 47.76 -4.42
Turnout 52,529 68.94 -8.78
Registered electors 76,198
Labour hold Swing -2.21
General election 1959: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Parker 37,009 69.00 -4.88
Conservative Andrew Felix Waley 16,626 31.00 +4.88
Majority 20,383 38.00 -9.76
Turnout 53,635 72.51 +3.57
Registered electors 73,968
Labour hold Swing -4.88

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Parker 32,851 64.82 -4.18
Conservative Giles E Currie 9,461 18.67 -12.33
Liberal Patrick Thurlbeck Humphrey 7,301 14.41 New
Communist Kevin Halpin 1,070 2.11 New
Majority 23,390 46.15 +8.15
Turnout 50,683 70.96 -1.55
Registered electors 71,424
Labour hold Swing +4.08
General election 1966: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Parker 35,055 74.65 +9.83
Conservative Giles E Currie 10,530 22.42 +3.75
Communist George C Wake 1,373 2.92 +0.81
Majority 24,525 52.23 +6.08
Turnout 46,958 67.40 -3.56
Registered electors 69,671
Labour hold Swing +3.04

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Parker 31,335 70.74
Conservative Hugh McClancy 11,976 27.04
Communist George C Wake 982 2.22
Majority 19,359 43.70
Turnout 44,290 59.05
Labour hold Swing
General election February 1974: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Parker 35,765 72.68
Conservative Archie Hamilton 12,275 24.94
Communist George C Wake 1,169 2.38
Majority 23,490 47.74
Turnout 49,209 71.02
Labour hold Swing
General election October 1974: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Parker 29,678 65.23
Conservative Archie Hamilton 7,684 16.89
Liberal G Poole 7,564 16.63 New
Communist George C Wake 569 1.25
Majority 21,994 48.34
Turnout 45,495 64.99
Labour hold Swing
General election 1979: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Parker 24,707 52.57
Conservative G Hyams 14,600 31.07
Liberal M Long 5,583 11.88
National Front J Roberts 1,553 3.30 New
Communist D Connor 553 1.18
Majority 10,107 21.50
Turnout 46,994 69.12
Labour hold Swing 13.4%

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bryan Gould 15,665 39.26
Conservative Bob Neill 12,688 31.77
SDP J Horne 10,679 27.00 New
National Front Joe Pearce 645 1.62
Communist D Walshe 141 0.35
Majority 2,997 7.49
Turnout 39,878 63.34
Labour hold Swing
General election 1987: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bryan Gould 18,454 44.4 +5.1
Conservative Bob Neill 15,985 38.5 +6.7
SDP John Carter 7,088 17.1 -9.9
Majority 2,469 5.9 -1.6
Turnout 41,527 67.3 +4.0
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bryan Gould 22,027 52.26
Conservative Don Rossiter 15,294 36.29
Liberal Democrats Charles Marquand 4,824 11.45
Majority 6,733 15.97
Turnout 42,145 70.66
Labour hold Swing
1994 Dagenham by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Judith Church 15,474 72.0 +19.74
Conservative James Fairrie 2,130 9.91 -26.38
Liberal Democrats Peter Dunphy 1,804 8.39 -3.06
BNP John Tyndall 1,511 7.03 New
UKIP Peter Compobassi 457 2.1 New
Natural Law Mark Leighton 116 0.5 New
Majority 13,344 62.1 +56.1
Turnout 21,492
Labour hold Swing
General election 1997: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Judith Church 23,759 65.7 +13.4
Conservative James P.J. Fairrie 6,705 18.5 −17.8
Liberal Democrats Thomas Dobrashian 2,704 7.5 −3.9
Referendum Steven Kraft 1,411 3.9 New
BNP William Binding 900 2.5 N/A
Independent Richard H. Dawson 349 1.0 New
National Democrats Michael B. Hipperson 183 0.5 New
ProLife Alliance Kathleen A. Goble 152 0.4 New
Majority 17,054 47.2 +32.3
Turnout 36,162 62.1 -8.6
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jon Cruddas 15,784 57.2 −8.5
Conservative Michael White 7,091 25.7 +7.2
Liberal Democrats Adrian Gee-Turner 2,820 10.2 +2.7
BNP David Hill 1,378 5.0 +2.5
Socialist Alliance Bill Hamilton 262 0.9 New
Socialist Labour Robert Siggins 245 0.9 New
Majority 8,693 31.5 -15.7
Turnout 27,580 46.5 −15.6
Labour hold Swing
General election 2005: Dagenham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jon Cruddas 15,446 50.1 −7.1
Conservative Michael White 7,841 25.4 -0.3
Liberal Democrats James Kempton 3,106 10.1 -0.1
BNP Lawrence Rustem 2,870 9.3 +4.3
UKIP Gerard Batten 1,578 5.1 New
Majority 7,605 24.7 -6.8
Turnout 30,841 51.3 +4.8
Labour hold Swing −3.4

See also

  • List of parliamentary constituencies in London
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